Discount and premium retailers dominate market growth

26 March, 2013

BySamantha Edwards

Aldi and Waitrose have recorded the two highest percentage growth rates in the grocery market during the last 12 weeks, Kantar Worldpanel has revealed.

The research firm published the latest grocery share figures for the 12 weeks to 17 March, highlighting a 30.8% growth rate for the discount food retailer. The John Lewis Partnership-owned Waitrose also saw a 12.5% growth rate during the same period.

Other food retailers seeing an increase in growth included Lidl and Iceland, which experienced an increase of 10.5% and 8.7% respectively.

Sainsbury’s growth rate stood at 6.2%, while Tesco and Asda saw an increase of 1.1% and 3.8% respectively, and Morrisons reported a 1% decline in growth.

Fraser McKevitt, retail analyst at Kantar Worldpanel, said: “Sainsbury’s year-on-year growth of 6.2% firmly beats the total market growth of 3.9%. Since 2004, its annual share has been on a rising trend and now stands at 16.8% for the 52 weeks ending 17 March.

“Looking ahead, Tesco has responded with its Price Promise promotion, which delivers coupons to shoppers at the tills and Morrisons has announced plans to plug its home-delivery gap during 2013. These strategies are expected to help boost the retailers’ performances going forward.”

Kantar also revealed that grocery inflation stood at 4.2% for the same 12-week period, currently higher than the market growth of 3.9%. The firm said that this reflects shoppers’ coping mechanisms, such as switching products and retailers and seeking out offers.